Hair braider and an auxiliary device thereof

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a hair braider and its auxiliary device, which are portable and braids three bunches of hair into a strand. The hair braider has a substantially figure ‘8’-configured cam track allowing three carriers to move along the cam track for a ‘8’ track motion. Three carriers combined detachably with three grabbing members accommodating three bunches of hair therein travels along the cam track as a couple of rotors rotate in opposite direction. While three hair grabbing member held on the holders of the carriers conduct the figure ‘8’ motion, three bunches of hair in three hair grabbing members are braided into one strand.

1. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a hair braider and its auxiliarydevice and, more particularly, to an improved hair braider which isportable and weaves three bunches of hair into one braid.

2. BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Usually, hair is manually braided by a person other than the onewho wants to obtain the hair style of dreadlocks. This braiding worktakes extremely long time and costs too much. Also, the quality of suchmanually-braided hair style depends on the worker's skill totally, sothat it may not be uniform.

[0003] As shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,017 to Eronimi, an automatichair braiding device has been developed to save hair braiding time. Inthe Eronimi's device, a rudder device moves along a figure ‘8’-shapedtrack to accomplish the figure eight track motion, which is essentialfor hair braiding operation. A rudder section has a slot therein, whichreceives two paddle elements circulating in opposite directions andenables a rudder device moves from a half of the figure ‘8’-shaped trackto the other at the intersection point or area of the track.

[0004] In the Eronimi invention, to move from one track to the othertrack, the rudder section should smoothly receive another paddle elementinto its slot at the entry position in the crossover area and should bereceiving two paddle elements in a slot while it passes through thecrossover area, and release one of the two paddle elements at the exitin the crossover area.

[0005] However, the above mentioned invention does not smoothly operateat the crossover area because of the mechanical shock caused by theengagement and disengagement between the paddle element and the slot ofrudder section. Even though the slot is wider to weaken the mechanicalshock, it would not smooth the track changing operation because of widerclearance between the slot and the paddle element.

3. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a hairbraider conducting a smooth figure eight track motion to braid hair.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the invention comprises a housingcontaining an electric motor therein and a motor switch installed on thesidewall, a gear box mounted on the upper face of the housing and havinga guide plate with an opening formed in a substantially figure eightshape by two intersecting circular openings, a pair of cams mounted onthe upper ends of shafts in the center of each circular opening, eachdefining an annular cam track of a predetermined width with the innersidewall of the circular opening, a pair of rotors, which is mounted oneach top of the shafts, being rotated in opposite directions by themotor, a plurality of carriers disposed slidably in the cam track andconducting a ‘8’ track motion along the cam track according to therotation of the rotors, and a plurality of hair grabbing memberscombinable with the carriers, each traveling with the carrier with abunch of hair accommodated therein. As the hair grabbing membersmounting on the carriers travel along the cam track by the rotorsrotating in opposite directions, a plurality of bunches of hairaccommodated in the hair grabbing members are braided into one strand.

[0008] As this invention enables hair to be braided uniformly byconducting ‘8’ track motion smoothly, time and cost for the hairbraiding work can be reduced remarkably. Even a non-skilled operator canobtain a uniformly-braided hair. Furthermore, this invention isportable, anyone can easily braid his or her hair by himself or herself.

4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0009] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide afurther understanding of the invention, illustrate the preferredembodiment of this invention, and together with the description, serveto explain the principles of the present invention.

[0010] In the drawings:

[0011]FIG. 1A is a longitudinally sectional view of an extended hairgrabbing tube assembly, which is an auxiliary device for the braider;

[0012]FIG. 1B is a longitudinally sectional view of the hair grabbingtube assembly folded telescopically;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view of the hair braider accordingto the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the hair braider;

[0015]FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a gear box shown in FIG. 2 to show amechanism for track motion;

[0016]FIG. 5 is a top plan view of arrangement for driven gears andfingers as parts for a motion transmission;

[0017]FIG. 6 is a partially sectional side view of a carrier mounted ona guide plate;

[0018]FIG. 7 is a plan view and a sectional side view of a rudder to becombined with a carrier;

[0019]FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a driving member of the hair braideraccording to the present invention;

[0020]FIG. 9 is a partially sectional side view of a cap to be coveredonto an upper tube of the hair grabbing member; and

[0021]FIG. 10 is a side view of a needle member for grabbing a bunch ofhair.

5. MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0022] Referring now to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention will be described. A hair braider according to thepresent invention comprises three hair grabbing members 100 configuredas FIGS. 1A and 1B, each accommodating a bunch of hair, and a drivingmember 200 shown in FIG. 2 for moving the three hair grabbing members100 along a predetermined ‘8’-shaped cam track.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the driving member 200 comprises a housing 2containing an electric geared motor l and a battery 1 a therein. Aswitch 1 b for turning on or off the motor 1 is installed on thesidewall of the housing 2. A gear box 3 is mounted on the top of thehousing 2.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 3, on the top of the gear box 3 is bolted aguide plate 4 having a figure eight opening formed by the intersectionof two circular openings C1 and C2. At each center of the circularopenings C1 and C2 is disposed two shafts 11 and 21 fixed on the bottomsurface of the gear box 3. On the upper end of both shafts 11 and 21 arefixed substantially-circular cams 12 and 22, of which the circumferencesform two annular cam tracks 5 and 6 with the inner sidewalls of thecircular openings C1 and C2.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 4, both cams 12 and 22 include protrusions 12 aand 22 a, each protrusion being radially extended outwardly from theouter surface of each cam. The protrusions are opposed to each other onthe centerline ‘O’ of the two cams 12 and 22. Each protrusion 12 a (22a) is dimensioned so that its tangent is inclined at about 23 degrees tothe imaginary line ‘H’ joining two intersection points of two circularopenings C1 and C2, and its height is to be about {fraction (1/16)} asto outer diameter of the cam 12 (22).

[0026] As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of identical rotors 30 and 40 aremounted rotatably on the two shafts 11 and 21, respectively. The rotors30 and 40 are meshed each other and rotate in opposite directions bymeans of the motor 1 to give a track motion to all carriers to bedescribed hereinafter. As shown in FIG. 5, each of the rotors 30 and 40comprises a driven gear 31 (41) mounted rotatably on the shaft 11 (21),and a finger 32 (42) which is formed in one body coaxially on the drivengear 31 (41) and has tree recesses 32 a (42 a) equally spaced on itsperiphery.

[0027] The driven gears 31 and 41 are identical and meshed each other torotate in opposite directions. One of the driven gears 31 and 41 ismeshed with a driving gear 7 which is connected to a shaft of the motor1 through a reduction gear. Therefore, the motor 1 drives the drivengears 31 and 41 in a reduced speed in opposite directions.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 5, the rotor 30 (40) is disposed coaxially inthe center of the circular opening C1 (C2) and arranged in such a mannerthat when the two opposed recesses 32 a and 42 a meet they form asubstantially full circle.

[0029] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the hair braider according to thepresent invention includes three carriers 50, 60, and 70, which arecarried by the recesses 32 a and 42 a of the fingers 32 and 42selectively and travel along the cam tracks 5 and 6 formed in the guideplate 4.

[0030] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the carrier 50 (60, 70) comprises acam roller 52 (62, 72) which is fixed on the lower end of a carriershaft 51 (61, 71) and seated in one of the recesses 32 a (42 a) of thefinger 32 (42), a rudder 53 (63, 73) having a through hole 53 a (63 a,73 a) into which the carrier shaft 51 (61, 71) is inserted above the camroller 52 (62, 72), and a holder 54 (64, 74) connected at the upper endof the carrier shaft 51 (61, 71) through screw combination. The holder54 (64, 74) has a recessed pocket for receiving and detachably holdingthe hair grabbing member 100 therein.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 7, the through hole 53 a (63 a, 73 a) is formedapart from the center point of the rudder 53 (63, 73) having anoval-like cross-section encircled with two symmetrically opposedsidewalls, whose curvature is almost equal to that of the circularopening C1 (C2), and a middle width is slightly narrower than that ofthe cam track 5 (6) to be smoothly guided by the cam tracks 5 and 6. Therudder 53 (63, 73) is of an overall length slightly greater than thedistance between the intersection points of two circular openings C1 andC2 such that the rudder is to be laid across one cam track 5 and theother cam track 6 at the crossover point of the figure ‘8’ track. It ispreferable to form the through hole 53 a (63 a, 73 a) in the rudder 53(63, 73) such that the distance between centers of the through hole 53 a(63 a, 73 a) and the rudder 53 (63, 73) is longer than the radius of thethrough hole 53 a (63 a, 73 a).

[0032] The rudder 53 (63, 73) is supported on the carrier shaft 51 (61,71) inserted into the through hole 53 a (63 a, 73 a) thereof in such amanner that the front portion ahead of the through hole 53 a (63 a, 73a) is shorter than the rear. When the rudder 53 (63, 73) passes throughthe horizontal centerline ‘O’ of the two circular openings C1 and C2from the left cam track 5, the protrusion 12 a of the cam 12 pushes therudder 53 (63, 73) at one side to make the front portion of the rudder53 (63, 73) enter the right cam track 6 in diagonal direction until thecarrier 50 (60, 70) being guided by the rudder 53 (63, 73) is fullytaken over from the left recess 32 a formed in the left finger 32 to theright recess 42 a formed in the right finger 42. Therefore, the carrier50 (60, 70) gets a smooth figure eight motion around the crossover pointas well as along the normal circular cam track. The rudder 53 (63, 73)has a thickness ‘t’ slightly, for example, about {fraction (3/100)} mm,thicker than the thickness ‘d’ of the guide plate 4 to keep the bottomsurface of the holder 54 (64, 74) not in contact with the upper surfaceof the guide plate 4 while the holder 54 (64, 74) moves along the‘8’-shaped track.

[0033] As the rudder 53 (63, 73) has the above mentioned configuration,the carrier 50 (60, 70) seated in one of the recesses 32 a of the leftfinger 32 travels along the one cam track 5 counterclockwise accordingto the guidance of the rudder 53 (63, 73) whose sidewall shape is fittedto the outer periphery of the cam track. When the rudder 53 (63, 73)passes through the horizontal centerline ‘O’ of the two circularopenings C1 and C2, it is pushed by the protrusion 12 a of the one cam12 so that its motion is turned from circular motion to straight towardthe other cam track 6. Therefore, the carrier 50 (60, 70) whosetraveling direction is guided by the rudder 53 (63, 73) enters the othercam track 6 and travels along the other cam track 6 clockwise. Thisgives a ‘8’ track motion to all the carriers 50, 60, and 70. The pocketrecessed in the holder 54 (64, 74) of the carrier 50 (60, 70) has amagnetic plate 55 (65, 75) on the bottom so that the hair grabbingmember 100 may be inserted and detachably held therein. Preferably, thecarrier 50 (60, 70) may be wholy made of magnetic material.

[0034]FIG. 8 shows an exploded view for the gear box assembly of thepresent invention.

[0035] As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the hair grabbing member 100includes tree telescopically-assembled tubes 101, 102, and 103, eachtube being made of transparent material and long and wide enough tocontain a bunch of hair. The number of tubes constituting the hairgrabbing member 100 may be increased to accommodate longer hair. As thetube is transparent, the operator can see whether or not the hair iscoiled and seated well in the tubes before or during braiding.

[0036] The lower tube 101 is of the largest inner diameter toaccommodate the middle tube 102 and the upper tube 103 telescopicallyand includes a metal ring 104 fixed on the bottom. The metal ring 104has a central hole 104 a to pass through a needle member describedbelow. The ring 104 has a boss portion 104 b formed around the centralhole 104 a on the bottom surface to be attached to the magnetic plate 55(65, 75) of the pocket of the holder 54 (64, 74).

[0037] The upper tube 103 is made of a flexible plastic. While thebunches of hair accommodated in three upper tubes 103 are pulled out,they get closer to braiding point, which causes a lateral force appliedto their upper tubes 103. As the upper tube 103 is flexible, it iselastically bent over and absorbs the lateral force. The upper end ofthe upper tube 103 is covered with a cap 106. As shown in FIG. 9, thecap 106 is preferably made of an elastic rubber to hold a bunch of hairtightly through the central nozzle 106 a. The cap 106 is replaceablewith another one having the nozzle 106 a of different diameterappropriate to the thickness of a bunch of hair.

[0038] The upper tube 103 may get longer with an extending tube of thesame diameter connected thereto by means of a connecting ring 103 a toallow longer hair to line up. In this case, the extending tube ispreferably made of hard plastic as the middle tube 102 and the lowertube 101 are.

[0039] Preferably, the gap D1 (D2) between the diameter of entering holeand inner diameter of the tube 102 (103) is given much wider than thethickness of a string of hair to prevent ends of hair from being caughtin the gap D1 (D2) when a bunch of hair is twisted or circulated in thetubes due to the figure ‘8’-track motion of each hair grabbing member100.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 1B, the middle tube 102 has upper end of aslightly larger outer diameter than entering hole of the lower tube 101or is longer than the lower tube 101 to prevent from entering into thelower tube 101 completely. The connecting ring 103 a of the upper tube103 also performs the same function when all tubes are folded.

[0041] The present invention includes a needle member 110 as anauxiliary device, which hooks a bunch of hair with a hook 111 and passesthrough the tubes 101, 102, and 103 successively to pull the bunch ofhair into the tubes of the hair grabbing member 100. As shown in FIG.10, the needle member 110 comprises a slender body 113, a hook 111having an opening at back side, a rotating pin 112 pivoted on the bottomof the hook 111 to close or open the opening of the hook 111, and a gripportion 114 of a larger diameter ‘D3’ than the center hole 104 a of themetal plate 104 of the lower tube 101 to grasp easily and to prevent theneedle member 110 from entering entirely into the lower tube 101.

[0042] An embodiment according to the present invention operates asfollows.

[0043] The needle member 110 passes through the three tubes 101, 102,and 103 retracted as shown in FIG. 1B and the cap 106 successively untilthe hook 111 protrudes out of the cap 106 with the rotating pin 112opened. While the needle member 110 is being pulled down through thecentral nozzle 106 a of the cap 106 with a bunch of hair caught by thehook 111, the hook 111 tightly holds and draws a bunch of hair into thetubes 101, 102, and 103. When the hook 111 arrives at the entrance ofthe nozzle 106 a, the rotating pin 112 closes the back opening of thehook 111 to slide the hook 111 with the hair hooked through the nozzle106 a.

[0044] After that, the tubes 101, 102, and 103 are extendedtelescopically, and a bunch of hair has been accommodated into theunfolded tubes 101, 102, and 103 with the bunch of hair clamped by theelastic force of the nozzle 106 a of the cap 106. Three hair grabbingmembers 100 hold three bunches of hair respectively through the aboveoperation and then are seated on the three holders 54, 64, and 74 firmlyby a magnetic force interacting between the metal rings 104 and themagnetic plates 55, 65, and 75.

[0045] While the three hair grabbing members 100 conduct the ‘8’ trackmotion by the driving member 200, they braid three bunches of hair intoone strand. As three carriers 50, 60, and 70 perform the same trackmotion, only one carrier motion will be explained hereinafter.

[0046] When the motor 1 is turned on with the switch 1 b on, it drivesthe driving gear 7 connected to its shaft through the reduction gear androtates a couple of the driven gears 31 and 41 in opposite direction.For example, if the left driven gear 31 shown in FIG. 5 rotatescounterclockwise, the right driven gear 41 rotates clockwise. As theleft driven gear 31 rotates counterclockwise, the left finger 32 alsorotates counterclockwise and circulates the cam roller 52, 62, or 72seated in one of the recesses 32 a and the carrier 50, 60, or 70connected to the corresponding cam roller along the cam track.

[0047] At this time, the rudder 53, 63, or 73 travels along the left camtrack 5 with the one sidewall in contact with outer sidewall of the camtrack 5, thereby guiding the carrier 50, 60, or 70 along the half of thefigure ‘8’ track. The holder 54, 64, or 74 of the carrier 50, 60, or 70carrying the hair grabbing members 100 conducts the same track motion.

[0048] When the rudder 53, 63, or 73 passes through the perpendicularintersection line ‘H’ from the left cam track 5, it is pushed by theprotrusion 12 a of the left cam 12 at the pressure angle of 23 degreeswith respect to the intersection line ‘H’ so that it turns toward theright cam track 6. At the same time, the cam roller 52, 62, or 72 underthe rudder 53, 63, or 73 moves into one of the recesses 42 a of theright finger 42 rotating clockwise and is then carried by one of theright recesses 42 a.

[0049] As the carrier shaft 51, 61, or 71 inserted into the through hole53 a, 63 a, or 73 a is placed at the leading portion apart from thecenter point of the rudder 53, 63, or 73, the carrier shaft 51, 61, or71 is already positioned on the right circulating path of the leftrecesses 42 a just when the rudder 53, 63, or 73 is positioned acrossthe left cam track 5 and the right track 6. That is, the rudder 53, 63,or 73 keeps on moving along the right cam track 6 after the carriershaft 51, 61, or 71 passes over the intersection line ‘H’, therebychanging motion track smoothly at the intersection area of the‘8’-shaped track.

[0050] On the other hand, the rudder 53, 63, or 73 traveling clockwisealong the right cam track 6 passes through the perpendicularintersection line ‘H’, it is also pushed by the protrusion 22 a of theright cam 22 and turns toward the left cam track 5. At the same time,the cam roller 52, 62, or 72 under the rudder 53, 63, or 73 moves intoone of the recesses 32 a of the left finger 32 rotatingcounterclockwise.

[0051] As described above, the ‘8’ track motion of three carriers 50,60, and 70 provides the same track motion to the three hair grabbingmembers 100 combined with three carriers 50, 60, and 70 at the holders54, 64, and 74, which makes three bunches of hair accommodated in thethree hair grabbing members 100 be braided into one strand as thebunches of hair in the hair grabbing members 100 are pulled out inch byinch from the tubes through the nozzles 106 a clamping the bunches ofhair.

[0052] The foregoing is provided only for the purpose of illustrationand explanation of the preferred embodiments of the present invention,so changes, variations and modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A hair braider for weaving bunches of hair into one strand,comprising: a housing containing an electric motor and a switch for themotor on the wall; a gear box mounted on the top of said housing andcovered with a guide plate having a figure eight-shaped opening formedby an intersection of two circular openings; a couple of circular cams,each fixed on a shaft located in each center of said circular openingsand fixed on the bottom surface of said gear box, whereby defining afigure eight cam track between each outer sidewall thereof and eachinner sidewall of said circular openings; a couple of rotors,respectively mounted on the shafts, being rotated in opposite directionby said motor; a plurality of carriers carried by said rotors, eachincluding a carrier shaft disposed at said cam track perpendicularly; aplurality of rudders having through holes said carrier shafts areassembled into, respectively, and guided in and circulated along saidcam track by said rotors, whereby conducting a ‘8’ track motion, eachthrough hole of said rudders being formed apart from each center of saidrudders.
 2. A hair braider according to claim 1, wherein said rudder hasan oval-like cross-section encircled with two symmetrically-opposedsidewalls, whose curvature is almost equal to that of said circularopening and whose length is longer than the distance between twointersection points of said two circular openings.
 3. A hair braideraccording to claim 1, wherein said through hole is formed in saidrudder, the central points of said through hole and said rudder beingapart longer than the radius of said through hole.
 4. A hair braideraccording to claim 1, wherein said carrier is disposed in said cam trackin such a manner that a shorter end of said rudder with respect to saidthrough hole is leading side.
 5. A hair braider according to claim 1,wherein said rudder is slightly thicker than said guide plate.
 6. A hairbraider according to claim 1, wherein said circular cam includes aprotrusion, which is opposed to another protrusion of the other circularcam in the centerline thereof.
 7. A hair braider according to claim 6,wherein said protrusion is formed in such a manner that its tangent isinclined at about 23 degrees to the imaginary line joining twointersection points of said two circular openings.
 8. A hair braideraccording to claim 1, wherein said rotors include a couple of drivengears mounted rotatably on the respective shaft and meshed each other,each rotor having a finger formed as one body coaxially on each drivengear and tree recesses equally spaced on its periphery.
 9. A hairbraider according to claim 8, wherein said rotors are disposed in such amanner that said one recess of said finger meets closely with anotherrecess of the opposed finger in the centerline of said two circular camsduring rotation of said rotors.
 10. A hair braider according to claim 8,wherein said finger has three recesses disposed at 120 degrees on itscircumference.
 11. A hair braider according to claim 8, wherein saidcarrier includes a cam roller which is seated in one of the recesses ofsaid finger and circulates along said cam track according to therotation of said finger.
 12. A hair braider according to claim 1,wherein the number of said carriers is three.
 13. A hair braideraccording to claim 1, wherein said carrier includes a holder having amagnetic plate for attaching a hair grabbing member thereon.
 14. A hairbraider according to claim 13, wherein said holder has a recessed pocketfor said hair grabbing member to be inserted and held magneticallytherein.
 15. A hair braider according to claim 13, wherein said holderis mounted on the top of the carrier shaft with the upper end exposedover the guide plate.
 16. An auxiliary device for a hair braider,comprising: a plurality of cylindrical tubes assembled telescopicallyeach other, wherein the lower tube has a metal ring with a center holeon the bottom, the upper tube is covered with an elastic cap forclamping a bunch of hair through a nozzle on the top thereof, and thediameter of an entrance hole of each upper end of all tubes except theupper tube is slightly smaller than inner diameter of the tube.
 17. Anauxiliary device according to claim 16, wherein said upper tube isformed of a soft plastic to be flexible and the other tubes are formedof a hard plastic.
 18. An auxiliary device according to claim 16,wherein the difference between the diameter of entrance hole and innerdiameter of the lower tube is greater than that of the other tubes. 19.An auxiliary device according to claim 16, wherein said cap isreplaceable with another cap with a nozzle of different diameter fittedto the thickness of a bunch of hair therein.
 20. An auxiliary deviceaccording to claim 16, wherein said metal ring has a boss around thecenter hole.
 21. An auxiliary device according to claim 16, furtherincluding a slender needle member comprising a hook engaging a bunch ofhair, a rotating pin pivoted on the root of the hook to close or openthe hook.